McMurdo’s Camp, a Scion Society of the Baker Street Irregulars, operates in and around in Charlevoix, Michigan. The Society is dedicated solely to the study of, and socialization involving, the four novels and fifty-six short stories of The Canon, plus related subjects and activities. If you are not a fan of Sherlock Holmes or you do not have a strong desire to become one, McMurdo’s Camp will probably not interest you. But you are welcome to read about us anyway.

Membership in The Camp is open to all, regardless of age, ethnicity, gender, pecuniary condition, political beliefs, race, or religion.

McMurdo’s Camp is a private not-for-profit organization. There are no dues, charges, or obligations to join or belong. Three types of memberships are available:

· Charter Member. You must understand and be able to explain the name of the organization to the leader at initial contact.

· Provisional Member. Just join up. No requirements.

· Member. A move up from Provisional, based upon your request and continued interest.

Cyber-memberships are available in all three categories. Free.

If you are interested in joining, please e-Mail Matilda at the camp office. The address is planing dot mill atsign hush dot com. Include, optionally, the information required to become a charter member. The real e-Mail address is actually jammed together in the usual fashion using the “at” symbol and periods. It is printed here in the manner shown to throw off automated “spam-fishers”. (Do not send the charter member qualifying information as a comment on the blog. If you do I will have to delete it so we don’t broadcast the “secret” answer. We in the Camp Office can delete comments before they are published, but not edit them, which would be putting words into our correspondents’ mouths.)

Where is Charlevoix, Michigan? Simple. Just look at the “Michigan Mitten” as the back of your left hand. We are at the tip of your ring finger. If you live in the area, simply join up. If you don’t live around here, join with our Cyber-Members. If you plan to visit the area, as many do mainly in the Summer, there might be a meeting you can attend. Or simply drive over to Murray’s Orderly Bar & Grill in East Jordan, and watch the sun go down over the South Arm.

I am writing to you on behalf of the Sydney Passengers. As our name might suggest, our Sherlockian group is based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

We take our name from the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the ‘Gloria Scott’ in which the survivors of a mutiny at sea are rescued by a ship bound for Australia and “after an excellent voyage the Hotspur landed us at Sydney”. Our group currently has around 140 members and we meet six times a year.

For our next meeting on 18 May, 2008 we will be discussing Valley of Fear and would very much like to let our Passengers know about the different Sherlockian groups that have taken their name from that Canonical tale. Might we use your web information or would you like to “personalise” it a little further?

Our journal, The Passengers’ Log, comes out 3 times a year and our newsletter, Signals, is issued prior to each function that we hold.

I would then like to publish this in our journal. We are hoping to bring the wider Sherlockian world to our Sydney shores.

Thank you and our very best Sherlockian regards.

Yours sincerely

Margaret Jewell

From Matilda, at the Camp (5 May 08):

Thanks for your interest. You may use any or all material from the Camp Site in any way you wish, even plagiarism for profit. (Good luck on that one!)

I will try to come up with some additional info that may be of interest for your meeting. One thing I have looked into (but not extensively) is the type of rolling stock used by the GM&V RR. I will forward you something on that.

Just now finding you and the new scion. Congratulations. The website is marvelous. Please visit ours, always in the development stage.
Do any of you make the Holmes celebration in NYC in January? Some of us from Nashville are always there. Please let us know if so. Happy Sherlock-ing!

New members are welcome, of course. The advantages of membership are not overwhelming. Your first task is to explain the name of the society. Doing this correctly will entitle you to the “rank” of Charter Member. Failure will mean “provisional member”. Maybe we will see you at Murray’s.